janh
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quote:
ORIGINAL: John 3rd
Continued thoughts?
Some distance checks versus upcoming Allied air frames:
Suva to:
- Nomuea: 17 hex
- Esprito Santo: 17
- Ndeni: 20
* Tongatapu (AF4+3): 10
* Samoas (AF3+3): 15
* Pago Pago: 17
* Auckland: 29
This place is locked into an area with a few good allied support bases indeed, although pretty much only Tongatapu could provide fighter cover. A plus is also the long distance to any kind of larger repair yard (Auckland: ~16+). With Sidney in Japanese hands, the IJN now has a sizable yard quite close by. Surely not optimal for any kind of Allied commitment in this region in the near future, which makes me think more about...
Line Islands, Palmyra to:
- Johnston Is.: 21
- Pearl: 26
- Kona: 23
Add ca 8 hexes to Christmas Is.
As said by others before, the big catch is the long distance to your repair yards versus the short to his.
Some normal/extended ranges (F w droptanks) for selected planes (or their successors) that may play a role when dealing with these islands:
B17G: 14/17
B24J: 16/20
B29-1: 28/35 (from 3/44, I don't have the unit arrival schedule handy, though)
F4F-4: 5/6
F6F-3: 8/10 (from 7/43)
F4U-1: 8/8 (from 12/43)
F4U-1D: 11/14
P38F: 10/13
P38H: 12/15
P47-D2: 5/6
P51B: 11/13 (from 2/44)
P51D: 15/19
I think the trouble when having to deal with retaking the Line Islands from a determined defender is the question of CV air power versus LBA support. Either the Allied player can muster a pretty huge CV fleet on its own, or he will need long-ranged LBA support, but there is essentially no such support until the B-29 arrives in numbers. Even then, there is no Allied fighter with the range to reach Palmyra, not even the P-51H or P-47N (extended with droptanks = 20). Hence, the solution we saw in an earlier AAR to combine B-29 with Hellcat escorts and sweeps from a CV concentration, which means unless a huge foobar rids you of KB, the Line Islands would be pretty safe on their own until mid 44.
Also: with the additional island/atoll defense units the IJN gets in RA, taking more but smaller forward bases seems to me more sensible in this mod compared to having to secure huge gains. The latter will require larger LCUs, and these either might end dead or -worse- useless if bypassed.
Thinking about the pros and cons, Line Islands sticks out in my opinion. You can recon Johnston and the Hawaiian chain from there, which robs Lew either of the moment of surprise (pretty much) for Amphib Ops in CentPac, or forces him to use bases on far-away CONUSA as staging area instead.
I was also wondering whether a quick snatch of the Line Islands might secure naval superiority and isolate Suva/Nadi and Pago-Pago, so you would keep the option open to deal with that later into summer or autumn? You'd have plenty of time, and Lew would face increasingly risky troubles to supply these islands (and NZ) via the long southern convoy routes. With a bit of luck, this may open opportunities for some good raiding, or Lew might even be tempted into risking his CV to evacuate some LCU there. Line Islands also isolates Canton Island, and would allow raiding Society or Marquesas Islands. One could even think about dropping a few small units there and building up an AF or two to harass Allied shipping.
I guess the most important issue now is to do lots of recon! Intel sounds like the name of the game for the meantime. Perhaps with sub-based Glens or even a few fast CAs for raiding/recon. I'd also think a bit beyond Cocos... Perhaps I'd even send some recon missions to Addu and Diego Garcia, just out of curiosity...
< Message edited by janh -- 5/29/2012 3:26:06 PM >
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RE: The Future - 
Is that not overextending? 
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